Pours a finger of head on a cloudy dark straw colored body.The aroma is wet grain with mild lemon. Nice.The taste is balanced moderate lemon bitterness with mild honey sweetness.The texture is crisp with moderate carbonation.This ESB has a great balance and is quite drinkable.

No but al-ask-ya later. Pours a crystal clear amber color with a light orange-red hue throughout. A fizzy white head that hid to the edge of the glass and stayed there. Decent lacing.

The nose is limited. A mostly caramel malt backing with some lighter nutty and complexity. Not much on hops but some minimal earthy notes. Would like a bit more hop character. No yeast character, has more of a cleaner US version. Would like to see a bit more English character overall.

The taste is a bit more on style versus the nose but still looking for more. To start the grain comes out with lighter caramel and nutty notes. There is a boarderline astringency thing up front but this is hidden by the hops. The hops come out with a light piney and flavor hop flavor. Some minor earthy notes but light. Some fusel note which is odd for the ABV.

The body is odd. Some sweetness up front but finishes dry. Carbonation is light but good for style. Overall I would like a bit more English character in the malt, hops and yeast. But still an easy drinking beer.

Dark amber or light brown in color. It has an autumn orange type of hue similar to some wood furniture you see. Some prickle and little to no head. Malty nose with a faint hint of hops. The attack is clean, but then the flavor hammers you with a strong bitter nut flavor. The nut and the bitter would be fine in the correct proportions and balance, but it seems that the nut overpowers the bitter and I don't feel that its a good thing. The aftertaste is consistent with the flavor. It sort of reminds me of when you get the nuts in the mixed nuts around Thanksgiving that are dried, or gone bad and they give a huge tart flavor that dries the mouth. I am appreciative that my father hauled this beer to me from Alaska, but its not my favorite of those he brought me.

Sample in the Alaskan tap room. This brew is a lightly hazed copper color with a medium thin and foamy off-white head that diminishes steadily. Rings of lacing on the glass. Hops, citrus and earthy malt aroma. Medium-bodied and moderately bitter with hops, caramel and biscuity malt flavors. The finish is hoppy and lingering, with a touch of sweetness in the mix. Above average overall.

It began with two finger's worth of rocky, medium-tan head with low retention, but a good bit of lacing. Nose had a good bit of caramel accompanied by a mild bitterness. Color was a deep amber with NE-quality clarity. Mouthfeel was medium with a bitterness softly tempered by a caramel/malt sweetness. Finish had the same commingling of bitter and sweet that I got on the tongue. In fact, as it warmed, I got a really pronounced biscuitiness on the extreme finish. A very good ESB and a beer that nicely offset their Amber.

Brought back an Alaskan Brewery 6 pack with this beer and the Pale Ale, IPA, Oatmeal Stout, Amber Ale, and Summer Ale. The ESB is a solid, sessionable beer.

Pours an amber color with a pillowy big white head (on a hard pour). Leaves some lacing.

Smell and taste is of biscuity malt. This is a simple but tasty treat.

The ESB is crisp and smooth, rich enough mouthfeel for the style. There is a slight bitterness in the finish that balances everything out. Drinkability is really good. This is a good tasting beer that goes down real easy. An ideal session beer and a good transition from swill to a well constructed beer with an actual flavor!!!

A: fluffy off-white head, lots of lace, crystal clear, copper coloredS: slightly fruity yeast and a hint of malt (maybe biscuits)T: bready malts, with an English (fruity) yeast flavor (no idea if this is a different yeast than the Amber, maybe higher fermentation temps).M: crisp, with a little too much carbonation for the style if we were in England, since this is America not unreasonableD: Very nice beer, not overpowering. Thank you, I will have another :)

this is an excellent concoction by AK. It has incredible hop flavor, and all the bitterness the hopheads like. Pours dark yet transparent amber, with good carbonation. I like the initial hop taste that really kicks your ass! suprisingly drinkable for an esb, many will mistake it for an IPA aside from the color. The finish shows a little malt but still very hoppy. Great brew.

The first beer that I had after getting off the plane in Las Vegas. This turned out to be a pure, simple, and very desirable beer. It pours a brilliant, sparkling copper / amber hue with a steady off-white head formation that laced well as the beer line fell. Moderate aromas of caramel malts, and ale-typical fruity esters. Mild fermented flavors swirl around the malts for a rich aroma, flavor, and feel. An herbal, pungent English hop character cleans the beer up a bit, while offering some complexity. The beer is very well balanced, not preferencing the hops nor the malts. The feel is also moderate, not too heavy or thick, but not watering either. Very easy to drink with a mild hop lingering and flavor. I certainly would not hesitate to buy this beer again.

Last of a six pack purchased at BevMo in Redlands, CA, approximately July 2007, consumed in September of the same year.

Pours a pretty orange-copper into an imperial pint glass, A fairly small head wuickly turns to thin wisps of bubbles ringing the glass.

Aroma is sweet, malty caramel and toffee. Slight metallic notes.

Flavor is a moderately rich, malty goodness with solid brown bread grains, underlying sweetness, and a kiss of hop bitterness to sit atop the beer. More malty than bitter- never understood the name of this style!

fizzy carbonation on the tongue, bitter hops up front, a metallic astringent flavor with the the hops there...good malt balance slightly lingers. Not a lot to say about this, it is a good example of the style and certainly a sessionable brew.

Bottle Code of A082007, Sampled September 2007Pours with a brilliantly clear, deep, ruby-red color and is topped by a frothy, initially three-finger thick, amber-tinged, tan colored head that leaves some lacing on the sides of the glass as it slowly recedes. The beer has an interesting aroma of strawberries that I notice as I am pouring this brew into my tulip glass. Closer inspection of the aroma makes out that fruity note to be hop derived, though it seems more like a combination of candied citrus peel and berries than of the initial strawberry note. A herbal / pine like hoppiness is also here, and at time is fairly noticeable. This really has an enticingly hoppy nose to it; I am quite enjoying it. Sweet, caramelized malt sugar notes and toasty grain aromatics form a backdrop to the up front, more dominant hop character.

A slightly creamy mouthfeel, that has a touch of fizziness from the carbonation. The beer is quite quaffable, fairly light, yet substantial enough to be noticed as it sits in the mouth. The beer finishes with a solid bitterness as well as a menthol like herbal flavor, both of which contribute to a lingering astringency on the tongue. The beer is only lightly sweet (though I had a lemonade recently so take that for what it is), but has a rich caramelized grain character. There also seems to be a touch of toasted malt, almost even chocolate character here; this is fairly subtle, but adds a nice, extra dimension to the malt. The hops and malt combine to give this beer a nice fruitiness that reminds me of oranges, berries and maybe even raisins.

This is quite a nice beer; it is very quaffable and I would definitely be happy drinking quite a few pints of these (before I know it, my 12oz pour is gone). I really like the hop character here and how it combines with the substantial, yet secondary, malt character.